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'Dubious' tax refunds denied by New York state Comptroller total $21 million

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New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli delivers a speech in 2009 at Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management. DiNapoli today said he has rejected more than $21.2 million in questionable tax refunds.
(Li-Hua Lan | Post-Standard, 2009)

The State Comptroller’s office has refused to pay more than $21.2 million in "dubious" tax refunds to 6,353 filers who requested refunds.

In a news release, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the biggest reason for denial was that taxpayers improperly claimed credits for child care or credits allowed only for low-income households. Those refunds would have been a total of $12.5 million.

DiNapoli said 27 percent of those refunds rejected -- more than 1,700, worth $5.4 million -- were prepared by dishonest tax preparers.

(The complete list is in a chart at the bottom of the story.)

“Unfortunately, there are some tax preparers who don’t play by the rules and create inflated refunds, sometimes without the filer’s knowledge,” DiNapoli said.

The Comptroller's Office reviews all New York state bills before they are paid, including tax refunds. So far this year, the office has authorized payment of $3.3 billion in refunds from 3.9 million tax forms. There are about 271,000 refund requests totaling $303 million left to be paid.